Monday, August 27, 2007

SURGERY SUCCESSFUL FOR TOUGH TODDLER

A lot of waiting may have been the most exhaustive part of Brant's first (and hopefully only) surgery. Brant, accompanied by his parents, arrived oh-so early at the day surgery center, per the instructions of the doctor. This extremely early arrival, however, seemed to be unnecessary. Thankfully, the hospital staff was sympathetic, friendly and courteous and even presented a wagon to occupy Brant during the long wait. He had fun with it for a few minutes, but the most successful distraction was going up and down the escalator with his dad.

After the first wait, Brant was welcomed back behind the glass. His next room had a t.v. and the family was very excited to be in time for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (a Brant favorite). Brant was restless and quite frustrated that he couldn't have his juice, but other than that, he did remarkably well.

Eventually the anesthetists spoke with us, and the doctor came in to explain the procedure. Pretty soon, Brad and Maren had to say goodbye as the nurse carried him away to the operating room, all the while listening to his pathetic cries of "Hold you, hold you!" Translated, this means, "Mommy, hold me, PLEASE!"

At this point, Brad headed off to get some breakfast. He encountered another adventure on the way...to be posted about later.

After Brant's surgery, he was beyond "fussy". The nurses in pre-op were much more forth coming about what to expect than the doctors. The doctors said fussy, the nurses said agitated, mad, and confused. When Maren finally saw him in recovery, he had lots of wires attached to him. His least favorite was the pulse reader taped to his big toe. He really wanted to get that thing off. Eventually he was distracted by his juice cup. This happy, sweet boy, was not himself for about an hour. However, by discharge time, he was good natured enough to try to climb up the baby bed in the waiting room.

In the end, Brant's little bump is gone, off to some lab somewhere, and in place he has some sutures and a little piece of medical tape. He hasn't touched it once, so for now he may not even notice it.